Eight people are accused of defrauding the state's workers' compensation system of more than $123 million by using "sham clinics" to prescribe high-priced medications and leaving patients with little, if any, of what they were prescribed, authorities said.

The indictments against eight people, who hailed from Southern California, Europe and the Middle East, were unsealed Tuesday, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office said in a news release.

The indictments come nearly two years after the Riverside and San Bernardino District Attorney's Offices began investigating Blue Oak Medical Group.

The defendants took advantage of thousands of patients, authorities alleged, by prescribing the same expensive medication regardless of each patient's condition. Most of the medications prescribed were made in pharmacies controlled by the defendants.

Money obtained from the defendants was illegally funneled through shell companies to others in Southern California and abroad, authorities said.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Sherman Oaks resident Hector Sandoval and Munir Uwaydah of Lebanon.

Shane Newell covers breaking news and the western Coachella Valley cities of Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs. He can be reached at Shane.Newell@DesertSun.com, (760) 778-4649 or on Twitter at @journoshane.